largefeature

As Quebec's population has aged, the health system has struggled to fund long-term care for the elderly. Many critics have decried as inhumane the lengthy waits some patients face in acute-care hospitals as well as multiple transfers from one institution to another.

Research on seniors with mild cognitive impairments shows that exercise has positive results on cognition and reduces the number of falls. Conversely, cognitive brain training exercises increase mobility and the ability to exercise.

The closing of the drop-in centre is part of a sweeping reorganization of services for the elderly across Quebec by Health Minister Gaétan Barrette. Following the implementation on April 1 of Bill 10 – Barrette's administrative overhaul of the health system – he met with the newly-appointed executive directors of umbrella health organizations and ordered them to "consolidate" day centres for the elderly.

In Quebec, if an individual is incapacitated due to sickness or illness, she or he needs a legally recognized mandate to allow others to officially act on their behalf in matters regarding their personal health care and/or finances. If a mandate is not in place, they are exposed to having the public curator act on their behalf and this is something to be avoided, if at all possible.

A vernissage of Art Links Lives, an intergenerational and intercultural art program involving students at Pierrefonds Comprehensive High School and seniors who live at the Jewish Eldercare Centre in Snowdon, was held April 30. About 50 people attended.

The 800 people who weathered howling winds and biting cold Sunday to honour this village’s dead let out a communal gasp at a special memorial service as parish priest Gilles Frigon said the name of the last person who would offer a testimonial.